Status: 09.03.2022 2:39 p.m
Paragraph 219a – the advertising ban for abortions – has long been controversial. Now the cabinet has set its abolition on the way. Implementation should be quick.
The parties of the traffic light coalition had promised the abolition of the advertising ban for abortion in their election programs and recorded it in the coalition agreement. Now the federal cabinet has cleared the way for the deletion of the controversial paragraph 219a, which bans “advertising for the termination of pregnancy”. According to the decision, the paragraph in the penal code should be repealed.
The draft law by Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) now has to be discussed in the Bundestag and Bundesrat.
Bushman: “Unacceptable condition”
So far, the paragraph has meant, among other things, that doctors cannot publicly offer detailed information about abortions without fearing criminal prosecution.
Bushman called it in common morning magazine from pool of broadcasting corporations and ZDF an “unacceptable situation” that German law forbids doctors to provide factual information and threatens to go to the public prosecutor.
“No ads like candy bars”
At the same time, women are now turning to the Internet for advice on a difficult decision of conscience. Here the law of the present must be adapted. And: The corresponding paragraph 219a in the penal code is not part of the constitutionally required life protection concept. That’s why we’re deleting this standard.
Offensive or laudatory advertising is excluded by professional law, says Buschmann. “Nobody has to worry about that because there won’t be any ads for abortion or anything like candy bars or travel.” That is legally impossible.
Spiegel: Abolition is “overdue”
Federal Women’s Minister Anne Spiegel (Greens) called the abolition of paragraph 219a “overdue”. “In the future, doctors should be able to provide information about their medical services regarding abortions without having to fear prosecution or stigmatization. In this way, we are strengthening women’s right to self-determination in the long term.”
The compromise that was initially found provides for an amendment to give pregnant women better access to doctors who perform abortions. Doctors and hospitals are allowed to advertise on their website that they are performing the procedures. In addition, the German Medical Association drew up a list of doctors and hospitals where terminations are possible. It is updated regularly.
Triggered by judgment of Doctor Hänel
The debate was triggered by a ruling by the district court in Giessen. end In 2017, the doctor Kristina Hänel was convicted of illegal advertising fine for abortion. Opponents of abortion discovered on her website that she offered abortions and reported Hänel. Her complaint and that of other doctors are now before the Federal Constitutional Court. The federal government has already announced that the doctors convicted under the paragraph are to be rehabilitated.
criticism from the Church
The Catholic and Protestant churches are criticizing the planned deletion of the paragraph. The chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, Georg Bätzing, had emphasized in January that the deletion took back the protection of unborn life and “could not claim to be progressive and modern”. The representative of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Martin Dutzmann, also urged adherence to the current regulation. This takes into account the protection of unborn life and the possible conflict situations of pregnant women.
Expect resistance from Union and AfD
A majority for the deletion of the paragraph in the Bundestag is considered safe. Resistance to this can only be expected from parliamentarians from the Union and the AfD. The legal policy spokesman for the Union parliamentary group, Günter Krings (CDU), explained that women who have become pregnant unintentionally would not be helped by deleting the paragraph. Rather, the fundamental legal obligation of the state to also protect unborn human life is disregarded. Human dignity comes from the unborn.